Milford Chronicle
MILFORD — Two Milford teens are charged with robbery, conspiracy, assault and offensive touching following an attack on a 17-year-old Milford teen the evening of Sept. 24 on the Riverwalk between Church and Maple avenues.
According to Milford Police Detective Dwight Young, at 8:23 p.m. police responded to a residence located on Mill Street after receiving a report of an assault that had just occurred.
Police made contact with the 14-year-old and 17-year-old male victims and were able to identify the juvenile male suspects in the assault through a school yearbook photo. Officers went to a home located in the 100 block of Bridgeham Ave and took three juvenile males, two aged 17 and one who was 16 years old, into custody in connection with the incident.
Police said three juveniles had approached victims on Mill Street in the area of the Riverwalk bridge.
The three then assaulted the 17-year-old victim knocking him to the ground and pushed sthe 14-year-old into a nearby light pole causing him to fall to the ground, police said.
Police said after the 14-year-old was lying on the ground, the three juveniles used the 14 year-old’s skateboard to strike him several times.
The three juveniles then ran with the 14-year-old’s skateboard. The 17-year-old victim was treated at Milford Memorial Hospital for minor injuries and later released and the 14-year-old male victim did not require any medical treatment at the time of the incident.
All three of the juvenile males were charged with one count each of second degree robbery, second degree felony conspiracy, third degree assault and offensive touching. All three juveniles were arraigned and were released into the custody of their parents on $9,500 unsecured bond.
The teen, who was not identified in police reports, needed stitches in his brow over badly bruised left eye.
His mother, along with members of the North West Front Street Neighborhood Watch Association, are concerned about public safety, and want the city to put in surveillance cameras and add foot patrol.
Police say the Riverwalk is safe, and that the crime is a teen-on-teen incident over a skateboard.
The victim and two friends were walking home about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday when they were jumped from behind by three teens they had previously encountered downtown where there had been some discussion about the skateboard the victim was carrying.
The muggers also took the skateboard after the attack, and it has not been recovered.
Although neighbors credited Milford police with a 4-minute response time, some wonder if something could have been done to prevent the crime.
Scott Angelucci is president of the Neighborhood Watch group.
"It is such an unusual thing," said Gail Angelucci, his wife.
The couple walk on the Riverwalk all the time without problems, Mrs. Angelucci said.
Her husband agreed.
"This was no random act. They sat in the dark part of the bridge. I don’t want to create a fear of the Riverwalk. If more people were on it, there would be less chance of this happening," he said.
The group said they would like to see police officers on foot patrol on the Riverwalk.
"The reality is that Milford is growing. It would be useful to have a beat cop," Mr. Angelucci said.
He said petty thefts and other crimes used to be more prevalent behind the North West Front Street homes until the Neighborhood Watch group organized, under the guidance of 2nd Ward Councilman John Workman, about two years ago.
"We haven’t had a lot of problems since then, but we haven’t been the most active either. Education will help. I think beat cops are the answer. Cameras don’t do everything," Mr. Angelucci said.
Milford Police Lt. Edward Huey describes the Riverwalk as "very, very safe."
The wooden trail of boardwalk and bridges looping through downtown Milford has become a landmark.
"This is an isolated incident involving, unfortunately, thugs. It’s teen-on-teen crime," he said.
The area where the crime occurred is not under the eye of surveillance cameras.
The closest camera perched atop the state Social Services Center on Church Street is out of service after it took lightning strike, Lt. Huey said.
"That assault would not have been seen," he said, noting the range would have been blocked by trees.
"The Riverwalk is a very safe place. This causes some concern, but short of a few minor incidents in Memorial Park, I don’t think we have had another incidence of crime. We strive to make all areas in the city as safe as we can."
